Shattered
by m.sharkbait.4444
Summary: If anyone were to take a long look at the Treaty family, they'd think everything was okay. They'd think that nothing could tear those kids apart. But that's just another one of the skills that the Treaty children have- acting like nothing is wrong.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: Ranger's Apprentice © John Flanagan. I am making no money- **_**please**_** do not sue. The only thing I **_**(barely)**_** own is the plot bunny that I kidnapped from Plot-Bunny-Land and the characters that came with George (the plot bunny). **

_Seventeen years ago_

They had something important to say. Something _really_ important. Otherwise they wouldn't have called us in until dinner. That's the way Mom and Dad had always done things- important things were saved for dinner. _Really_ important things could be said anytime, depending on how important they were. Kids weren't normally involved, either. So whatever it was had to be _really, really, __**really**_ important.

Maybe something was wrong with the new baby. That's why there was some important looking guy.

Or maybe we were in trouble for that prank this morning and the knight-doctor-important-looking-man-person was here to take us to jail. That's why Mom was crying.

Yeah, someone had figured out that we'd pranked the baker and the big, bulky knight was here to take us to jail. But… if the knight was here to take us to jail, where was Dad? Dad would be here with a stern look on his face. Then he'd laugh and say that he and Mom were just pulling our strings and the knight guy would turn out to be Uncle Horace or Uncle Gilan dressed up for a visit.

Danny said Dad would be back by now- he was only going to visit Uncle Crowley for the week. Something about Crowley retiring and Dad supposed to be the new commandment or command tent or whatever big word it was.

"Where's Dad?" Danny asked. He looked confused. _Really_ confused. That's not right… Danny is _never_ confused.

"Mom… why are you crying?" Sam asked. She looked confused and worried- that's not right, either. Sam knows everything- nothing confuses her. _I'm_ the one who's supposed to get confused. Sam sometimes gets worried- she was this morning when we put that exploding cherry thing in a pie.

"What's going on? Is Dad okay?" Danny asked. Halt looked at Danny. They had a conversation with looks. Danny's look questioning, Halt's sad before looking away. Danny's face lost all emotion. His mouth was pressed in a thin line and he was pale like a dead person.

I think that scared me most of all.

Danny always has some sort of an expression on his face. He's like Dad- always smiling or grinning. Never sad, never confused, and never worried. Even when we're in trouble- he'll pretend to be all serious and then grin when whoever's disciplining us looks away.

"He's gone."

Halt's voice was quiet. He sounded like he would cry if he had the ability to. Danny and I already decided a long time ago that Halt can't cry. I think we're wrong- Halt looked away and covered his eyes. That's not right. Halt won't cry. Halt can't. He's Halt.

"No." Danny's voice cracked. "No… you're lying. This is some sick prank. You're… you're trying to get back at us for this morning." Halt got up. Next to Dad, he's always been the closest to Danny.

"Danny-" He began quietly as he moved toward him.

"Don't touch me." Danny interrupted just as quietly. He gave Halt one more look, trying to find any dishonesty in Halt's eyes. He must not've found any. His face crumpled, and tears leaked out from his eyes. Sam had tears streaming down her cheeks, and I probably did too. But this was different- Danny never cried. Even when he fell from that tree and busted up his leg real badly, he didn't cry.

He didn't cry when a stray arrow got him in the shoulder. He didn't cry when he hit his head on one of the rocks in the creek. He didn't cry when Dad came home one night, bruised and battered after being ambushed. (The doctor had said that Dad wouldn't make it through the night. Everyone _but_ Danny cried- somehow, Danny had known that Dad would live.) In a flash, Danny had turned and was running out the still open door.

"Danny!" Sam cried. There were tears streaming down her cheeks. I was crying, too- but we were all worried about Danny. She ran out the door and after him- she'd never catch him, though. Halt limped over, wincing with every step he took with his left leg. Grandma would've yelled at him, but she was worried about Danny. Mom just sat there, holding her _very_ pregnant stomach. What could she do? I'd love to see her try running through the rain and woods to the cottage. She didn't even know where to go.

They wouldn't catch him- the only person who's ever been fast enough to catch Danny is Dad. I get pretty close to beating them, but that's when they go easy on me. I honestly wouldn't be surprised if Danny could outrun Tug when he grows up.

And Tug's a pretty dang fast horse…

I followed Sam- I already knew where Danny was running. Sam knew, too. It was a closely guarded Treaty secret. It was our hide out- a small cottage Dad and Danny built together. Sam kept running, ignoring her white skirt and the mud from the rain. I followed closely behind her- even at eight years old, I'd always been faster.

We ran through the trees and tight-rope walked across a tree over the creek. Danny had probably jumped across stones, but we didn't have the momentum that would keep us from falling in. Finally, we reached the small, white cottage Danny and Dad spent three summers building. The walls were made from stones down by the river and the roof was of thatch. There was a chimney, three windows, and an oak door with a window in the middle. Danny must've closed the curtains, because we couldn't see inside. Smoke filed out of the chimney. He was there, alright- and he'd ran fast enough to light a fire and close the curtains.

"Danny?" Sam said tenderly as she opened the door. She peered around the door to look inside, leaving me without a view. I stood up on my tiptoes, trying to see, though.

"Go away." Danny's voice croaked. It didn't take a genius to know that he was balling his eyes out. Sam opened the door wider, letting me see in. Danny had pulled one of the foldable cots up in front of the fireplace. He sat on the edge, hunched over with his elbows on his knees and his palms covering his eyes. A small fire raged inside of the fireplace, giving off enough light to send Danny's shadow around the room and warm the room all the same.

"We're not going anywhere without you." Sam said, her voice still very tender. She sounded a lot like Mom- calm and kind. Even at eleven years old, she'd make a good diplomat, I tell you. Sometimes, I mix Mom and Sam up. I know how and why- the only real difference between the two of them is that Sam's got brown eyes. Her voice isn't as deep. Not that Mom has a deep voice, but she has more of a… _commanding_ voice. It makes her voice deeper than most women's. But not as deep as Dad's or Halt's. Or Grandma's, come to think of it.

Sam opened the door all the way and strutted in like a queen- calm, poised, and collected. Those are the best words to describe her. I followed close behind, but hid behind Sam, holding her hand tightly. I wasn't an idiot, though. I shut the door so the room would stay warm.

Sam sat right next to Danny so that their thighs were touching. She patted next to her, so I sat there (even though I wanted to sit on the other side of Danny). Sam's the smart one of the family- she knows what to do in a situation like this. Sam wrapped an arm around me, and then placed her hand on Danny's back and rubbed small circles there. You know, to be completely honest, I think Sam wasn't sure what to do.

Danny's shoulders started shaking, and I could hear what must've been a sob. Sam licked her lips, but in the little light I could see tears streaming down her cheeks. She grabbed Danny by the shoulder and pulled his head into her chest so she could just hold him. One hand kept him there so he wouldn't scoot away and the other rubbed the side of his head, messing with his bangs in that weird motherly way.

I'm not stupid- I knew that Danny needed some comfort and that I was in the way. So, I got up, and tried to make myself useful. There's not much an eight year old can do, though. I could've pulled another cot out, but I doubted anyone would be sleeping that night. I could've made some dinner, but no one seemed hungry. The fire didn't need stoking, but our wood supply seemed to be running a little low. Dad must not've stocked up before he… left.

I think that's when it hit me. Will Treaty- my dad- was dead. D-E-A-D. Not coming back. POOF! How'd it happen? Did someone poison him in his sleep? Had a practice fight with Horace gone terribly wrong? Did someone try to siege Castle Araluen? Danny would want to know- he'd want to make sure that Dad went down fighting. "That's the Treaty way- we go down fightin' and causin' hell every which way." That's what Danny had said. Fighting and causing hell every which way…

Dad would've gotten mad at Danny for saying that. Then he would've laughed, said "Don't say that anymore, got it?" and then gone and had a _long_ talk about "Using appropriate language around _my_ children," with Halt.

But that wouldn't be happening anymore- Dad was gone. The doctors up at Araluen would wrap him up in something, ship him off to us in a wagon, and we'd bury him out in the backyard or someplace or another. No- Halt would make sure it was someplace nice. Someplace special. Like that clearing- the one a couple miles outside of Wensley where we sometimes went to play.

We pulled a prank there that morning. Set off one of our exploding cherry things that we got from Dad's friend Malcolm in a tree. Scared the poop out of a bird and that old lady who lives by Jenny's. It was funny. Too bad Danny wouldn't be pranking with us anymore.

After the events of that night, Daniel Halt Treaty changed. A lot. He became a lot more serious, and he stopped pranking the daylights out of people. He became extremely involved in archery- he practiced every day before and after school for hours upon hours. He started tracking and hunting- most of the time by himself. And he started the tree climbing. That must've been the worst of it all. Instead of climbing up and then down like a _normal person_, Danny insists on _jumping_ down. Dad dying had left Danny shattered. He wasn't who I remembered, and he wasn't who anyone else remembered. We didn't think things would ever be fixed.

But then, Mom had the baby a few months later. As soon as Danny got a good luck at the kid, he said three words. "Name him Will." Everyone had started staring at Danny, but he didn't care. "You heard me- name him Will." So, that's what Mom did.

Let me just say that has had to have been the _worst_ idea Danny's ever had. And Danny's had some pretty bad ideas…

**. . .**

**END CHAPTER UNO!**

**Okay, this story has been giving me **_**sooooooo**_** much trouble. I had **_**no**_** idea on how to write this or how to start this or **_**anything!**_** So when the idea of 'Hey, let's go back seventeen years and see just **_**how**_** Danny reacted to Will dying' hit me, I was like "YESSSH! THANK YOU PLOT BUNNY! I LURVE YOU PLOT BUNNY! **_**THANK YOU!"**_

**Heh. Sharkbait had a moment there.**

**Okay- I need to clear some things up real quick. I've changed some of the things in **_**Heaven Was Needing A Hero.**_** ::in the American Idol announcer voice:: And a here they are!**

**UNO: The story is in first person POV through Anna Treaty. PLEASE NOTE- I've never written **_**anything**_** this long in first person before. The longest amount of words I've written in first person is around five hundred. This is closer to **_**eighteen**_** hundred. And this is just chapter one…**

**DOS: Instead of just having two Treatys- Danny and Will- there's **_**four**_** Treatys (including Will). Danny (who's twelve here), Sam (she's eleven), and Anna (eight). Yeah… let's just say that Will is an unplanned baby who Will (big Will- not little evil Will) and Alyss weren't prepared for.**

**Yep. That's about it… I think.**

**Oh, and if you wanna hear my inspiration for this piece so far (and Danny's current theme song… [I choose theme songs for my favorite characters…]) look up the song **_**'Shattered'**_** by Trading Tomorrow. Seriously- I absolutely **_**LURVE**_** this song.**

**Heh. Sharkbait just had a fangirl moment. Do know that Sharkbait where's baggy jeans (hey- they're comfy), plays baseball (not softball), and despises gossip, popularity, or anything along those lines. (Except cheesy Spitfire stories. I just **_**can't**_** get enough of those two!)**

**WOW. **_**LOOOOOONG **_**AN, THERE. 'KAY, BYE!**

**-Sharkbait**


	2. Chapter 2

MID MORNING, TREATY CABIN.  
REDMONT, ARALUEN.  
ANNA TREAT Y POV

SOMETHING'S BOTHERING HIM. I CAN see it in his eyes- Halt only gets that look when someone says something about Dad. Seventeen years and he's still trying to get over whatever it is that happened to Dad. Or maybe he's still guilty about the fights they had about his leg. I dunno- and I stopped caring a long time ago. Unlike some people in this family, I got over Dad dying.

And so did Danny, Sam, Grandma, Horace, Gilan, Cassandra (or Evanlyn- again, I stopped caring), Jenny, Mom, and any offspring/people I missed. The only people who _haven't_ gotten over it would be Halt and Will. And Will was still in Mom's stomach, so he shouldn't count.

In other words- _GET OVER IT HALT! HE'S DEAD. D-E-A-D!_

"Anna," He said, leaning against the kitchen counter in that fashion Dad used to stand like. He'd been getting old- almost all traces of black were gone from his hair. White was starting to come in instead of grey. And he hobbled around with a cane- but he'd been doing that for over seventeen years.

"Hmm?" I called over my shoulder. I was reading one of the reports Gil left last time he visited. I probably shouldn't have been reading it- confidential Ranger stuff. Whatever.

"Will's in the backyard. Can you… make sure he doesn't do anything stupid?" Halt asked. I turned in my seat to look at Halt real closely. Since when was I Will's babysitter? He'd been seventeen- he didn't need one.

"He's not the only idiot in the family, you know." I said. Halt sighed.

"Anna… please. I'd do it myself, but my leg…" He trailed off. I knew what he meant. If he stood on his leg for too long, it'd start cramping. Cramping meant going to the healer, which meant listening to that nut case drone on and on about how Halt was going to die a horrible death from being cursed by the devil or something.

(Seventeen years before, Dad would've dragged him up to Malcolm's, but Malcolm kinda… I dunno how to put this in a nice way. He kinda… died. Actually, he was pushed off a cliff, so we just figured he was dead.)

I sighed in annoyance. "Fine. But if he does _anything_ stupid, I'm putting an arrow in his calf." That's what Danny had done. Right through the fat and muscle, too. Will wasn't running for nearly a year after that. And I've got to say, that had to have been the _best year ever._ Will bedridden and not able to do anything headache inducing? I'd take that _any_ day!

"Then you can take care of him for a year and a half while he whines about his perfectly fine leg." Halt replied back evenly. I raised my eyebrow, he raised his right back. For us, that was the equivalent of a staring contest. Whoever lowered the eyebrow had to give in to the other's demands. Halt normally won.

I took a deep breath. That wasn't going to get me anywhere- so I lowered the eyebrow and sighed. "Fine. I'll watch him. I won't put an arrow in his calf- I'll put it in his arm. His _left_ arm- so he can still write essays and eat and other useless crap that he insists upon." Halt smirked slightly- the equivalent of a smile in most cases.

"Fair enough," He replied, "And if you do, make sure you get him right in those muscles he's so damn proud of."

"Grandma know your using that type of language?" I asked.

"No, and she's not going to find out either."

"Gotcha- so here's my to-do list: watch Will, if he does something stupid- shoot 'im, and _don't_ tell Grandma you used the d-word. Got it." I listed off, smirking all the way.

"Way to be blunt about it."

"You bet."

I walked out the kitchen door and into our backyard. Memories of chasing Danny out the door nagged at the back of my mind, but I shoved them away. _You're over it, Treaty, remember? Dad is nothing more than a memory._ I think I must've repeated that to myself a couple of times before I almost got hit with an arrow.

"What the-"

"Move it! The spy is in town and Rodney'll kill me if I can't run!" An annoying voice interrupted. The spy? Oh, Danny. Will used the name as an insult towards Danny because of a mission he did a couple years back. He didn't care, though. Danny didn't care about a lot of things.

"Then watch where you're aiming, criminal!" I shot back. Criminal- my own insult towards Will. Halt says Will does 'stupid things.' He does, but I say he does 'illegal things.' Which, again, he does. I'm not too innocent, either, but then again- when is a Ranger _ever_ innocent? I think it's like a Corps requirement or something…

"Innocent until proven guilty, dumb-" He began before being interrupted.

"Finish that sentence and Grandma'll be the first one to know." Will wouldn't admit it, but Grandma terrified the living daylights out of him. Will mumbled something under his breath- probably some sort of vulgar. I honestly didn't care- I stopped caring around the same time I got over Dad.

"She doesn't scare me-"

"Whoever said she did? I only said that she'd be the first to know about your use of vulgar today." I interrupted, again. Heh. It's fun interrupting Will. He'll get all frustrated and then start doing stupid things. I should've made him do something stupid in front of knight- then a big, bulky knight could've tossed my poor excuse-for-a-battleschool-trainee-brother in a prison.

"Whatever. She still doesn't scare me."

"'Whatever' you say, chico." I said, copying him and how he said 'whatever.' Danny taught me some Iberian a couple of years back- he's fluent. He's fluent in a couple of other languages, and can pull of four or five accents perfectly. That's why the Ranger Corps sends him out on the missions a Courier or Dad would've normally done. But of course, Dad can't do them… 'cause… you know, he's dead. So far, I can _barely_ get by in Iberian and I've got a pretty good Hibernian accent going. That's about it.

"Mom told Grandma to tell Halt to tell me to tell you that Danny's coming over for dinner tonight and that if any curtains catch on fire, she will personally castrate us both." Will said absently, firing at a target disguised as a rock. My bow and quiver were both on me, so I figured I might as well join him in his target practice.

"And not Danny? Huh. Must mean he's heading out of the country soon." I said, firing at a target just above Will's head. It was really in the trees, but to get the hidden target, I had to fire right past his head. Any lower, and I probably would've put an arrow in his ear. Damn- I should've just hit him while I had the chance.

"Where do you think he's going next?" Will asked. For a brief moment, I heard concern in his voice. _Real_ concern. Not Will pretending to be concerned in front of Mom- him being _really_ concerned for the safety of our brother.

"Last time I talked to him- which was three months ago- he was studying Genovesan techniques. Poisons, crossbows, urban camouflage- things like that. What he's using them for, I don't know. But, I'm going to go out on a limb and say he's heading undercover." Will took a deep breath.

"What about his appearance? Sure, he can make himself look Gallican, Hibernian, and Scotti- but can he manage Tuscan?" Will asked. I shrugged.

"He's Daniel Treaty. He'll figure something out."

. . .

DINNER WITH THE TREATYS CAN be described in four different ways: depressing, insightful, chaotic, or a mix of the three. It just depends on who shows up for dinner and why. If Sam is in town, then she'll share her knowledge of the current gossip and crap, and things'll be insightful.

If Will and I are there- like we always are- things are chaotic. When we were younger, we had a bad habit of setting something on fire. Most of the time it was the curtains.

That leaves depressing. The word only comes around when Danny visits. Which is close to never. But that's only because he and Will always find a reason to beat the crap out of each other. The first few times, it was funny. But after you watch your little brother get pounded by your older and supposed to be more controlled brother, things start to get depressing.

"So… how are things in Whitby?" Mom asked, trying to break the silence that was only interrupted by the occasional clink of silverware on plate.

Danny looked up from his plate and raised his eyebrow ever so slightly. "Fine."

"What? No action? No thrills?" Will asked with a hint of sarcasm in his voice. Halt glared at him from his seat at the end of the table.

The table seats eight people. Halt has one end, while the other end is left empty. _No one_ is allowed to sit there. That's Dad's seat.

It's a perfectly good waste of a seat. Dad is dead, so there's no point in setting a place and not letting people sit there. Because, you know, Dad is DEAD. D-E-A-D. POOF!

Grandma sits to Halt's right. Will normally sits in between Mom and Grandma- Mom sits to the left of the unoccupied seat. Danny has the seat across from Mom and to the right of the seat. I have the seat in between Sam and Danny.

We don't always eat in the dining room. To be honest, we only eat there if Sam, Danny, or some other important person is visiting. Unless their family. So that means the Royal Family, Gilan's family, and Crowley. Otherwise, we eat wherever it is we feel like it. So that means seated at our smaller kitchen table, leaned against the kitchen counter, or on the veranda if the weather is nice enough.

"I'd expect nothing more. You learned from some of the best." Halt said, cutting into his steak and still managing to look menacing. Of course, the menacing part was directed at Will.

"What sort of 'top secret' Ranger business do you have going on?" Grandma asked Danny. Danny simply looked up from his plate again and shrugged.

"I've been studying Genovesan techniques. Mitch wants a few Rangers to head undercover. He's had a bad feeling about them- they've been spotted in multiple Araluen fiefs. I should be ready to head out in a few weeks." Danny replied. Mitch is the new Commandant. Gil was supposed to take the position, but when Jenny popped out a few kids, he decided to stay in Redmont. Grandma sent a questioning look over to Halt who's brow furrowed.

"How far west have they reached?" He asked.

"We don't know. We do know that they were spotted in Norgate." Danny replied. Halt's brow furrowed even further.

"Why wasn't I notified?" He asked.

"You were," Danny said, leaning his chair back on two legs to reach for a folded piece of paper sitting on the small table where we kept the fancy china. "Crowley asked me to pass this to you. He didn't want to risk someone reading it." He passed Halt the paper, who immediately broke the wax seal and began reading. As he read, his expression seemed to get darker and darker.

"So how did the letter get to you?" I asked. Danny turned and raised his eyebrow at me.

"He was in Whitby when he wrote the letter."

"And why didn't he bring it to us himself?"

"He knew I was heading up to Araluen anyway- he figured that I needed to spend some 'quality family time' before disappearing for who knows how long."

I nodded, accepting the answer. I could tell by the way Danny spoke that he'd planned on skipping Redmont, and Crowley had known him well enough to know that. I reminded myself to thank Crowley the next time I saw him- who knows how long it would've been until I got to speak with my brother again if he hadn't sent the letter.

Will oddly remained silent through everything. As a battleschool student, you'd think he'd be interested in the current events in Araluen. He just ate his dinner quietly.

"Are you going to visit Sam while you're at Araluen?" Grandma asked, clasping her hands together. I could tell Danny hadn't planned on visiting Sam- he let out a quiet, almost silent huff of breath.

"If I have time," he replied. Translation: No, I'm not visiting Sam even though she'll only be five minutes away from my special room in the Ranger Tower at Castle Araluen.

Grandma gave me a short, meaningful look. Translation: Go with him and make sure he visits. "You should take Anna with you. She's been cooped up here at the cabin ever since Lord Siren denied her entrance into the Corps. Again." Grandma said. Gee, thanks for bringing that up.

If you want to get technical, I have all of the training and all of the requirements needed to become a member of the Corps. Halt, Danny, and Gilan provided me with all the training I could ever need. But because women aren't exactly treated as well as men, I had to get approval from _all_ of the Araluen noble family. Everyone _except_ Lord Siren approved.

Danny grimaced. Danny would bring me in an instant- he'd probably _force_ Lord What's-His-Face into agreeing. But if he brought me along, Halt or Grandma or someone would force us to bring Will along. And they aren't on the best terms. They haven't been on the best terms for nearly five years. They had a _huge_ fight. They're still fighting. Will still cares and looks up to Danny, but Danny practically ignores him.

"How about I take Anna and Will with me up to Araluen?" Danny said in resignation. Grandma smirked. She'd won and she knew it.

. . .

THE TREATY CABIN IS LARGER than most homes throughout Araluen. When Danny and Sam were first born, they lived in the Ranger Cabin. The Treaty Cabin was built a few kilometers north of the other cabin in a clearing that was deemed 'unusable.' That made the plot of land cheap- Dad managed to negotiate the price down to almost half of the original and already cheap price. He managed to buy the land with a single month's salary.

When Halt and Grandma officially retired, Dad offered for them to move in with us. "You already spend most of your time with us anyway- how about just moving in with us?" After Dad showed them the designs, they agreed.

"As long as you allow us to pay for our portion of the cabin," they'd said. The next summer, Dad, Gilan, Horace, and other various members of our strange family got together and started building our three story home. Mom was pregnant with me at the time.

The first story has the kitchen, living room, the dining room, and Halt and Grandma's room. The second floor has Mom and Dad's room, Will's room, and a spare room for whatever guests decide to visit. The third floor has my room, Danny's room, and Sam's room. When Danny became apprenticed to Gilan, he lived so close by that he chose to live at home during the duration of his apprenticeship. There's a couple of bathrooms scattered throughout the house, but that's beside the point.

After dinner, Danny had decided he'd stay in his room and that we'd leave in the morning. "We leave as soon as the sun's up- I don't care if it's hailing cats and dogs. We're leaving then." He'd told us. "Pack only what you need."

We all ended up packing what our (or what would eventually be our) occupations listed on the pack list. For Will, that meant his armor, camping needs, and other things like that.

It ended up raining, but Danny was a man of his word. He threw the covers off of us and told us to saddle our horses. "Let's go! Rise and shine!" He'd yelled before going down and saddling his own horse, Mount. Apparently Danny had already had his coffee and eaten, because we got a total of five minutes to eat, get dressed, and be on our way.

Normally, a trip from Castle Redmont to Castle Araluen takes about three days. But when your workaholic brother has you ride nearly fifteen hours instead the normal eight, you can do the trip in two. We stayed in our tents, kept watch, hunted for food, and basically campaigned the whole way there. Danny was enjoying making us suffer- he'd grin when he saw how tired we were.

You could say it all paid off, though, when a familiar figure with blonde hair and brown eyes greeted us at the gates.

"Okay, who planned a family reunion and didn't tell me?" Samantha Treaty asked us with her hands on her hips, and a grin on her face.

. . .

Disclaimer: _The Ranger's Apprentice_ and all other things associated with the series belong to Mr. John Flanagan. I am a lowly fanfiction writer with nothing better to do.

_ANNOUNCEMENT: __Scarred__ will be updated Friday. The chapter should be finished by then. Hopefully…_

**Alright, I'm really enjoying this little universe I've made. Anyone think I should continue with the Treaty kids and such? Below are some facts about the story and the kids, and the first nonsense fact has given me an idea…**

**In case you're confused, here are some facts that might be helpful when trying to understand this story. You can choose to skip them- they may contain spoilers.**

-Halt has a cane. Remember chapter one? Will (Big Will, not Little Will) and Halt went on a mission, and Halt got hurt. That's going to be explained later. They fought about it and the cane led to Halt officially retiring. He'd been retired before, but he still went on the task force missions with Will.

-Danny is Whitby's Ranger. He was thirteen when Will (Sr.) died, and already pretty decent at the whole Ranger thing thanks to Will and Halt. When he was fourteen, he was officially apprenticed by Gilan. He graduated, and became the only member of the task force. Crowley- even though Anna and the others don't know it- is the Ranger who subs for him while he's gone from Whitby.

-Anna was trained to be a Ranger. But back in those days, women weren't treated as well as men. Now, Flanagan has created a different sort of medieval time- it's a bit more modern. It seems a lot like something out of the eighteenth century in some points, but also medieval at the same time. That being said, I'm mixing medieval times, the eighteenth century, and modern times. For a woman to be allowed to join the Ranger Corps, she has to get the approval of all the nobles on King Oswald's Court. That too will be explained later.

**Here are some facts that probably won't be used in this story, but I figured I'd share anyway:**

-Danny is actually married to someone, and together they had a son named James (or Jim, as I prefer to call him.) But because of his position as the sole member of the task force and thus making him gone most of the time, Danny's wife left him. No one in the Treaty family knows about the marriage, and no one (including Danny) knows about Jim. Crowley _does _suspect that Danny was married, thanks to the ring Danny often wears. In this part of the time line, I'd say Jim is probably about four years old.

-Danny and Anna both play guitar. Or 'guitarra', as Flanagan called it in the fifth book. Little Will doesn't because Big Will's friend wasn't around to teach it to him. Big Will wasn't the only Ranger killed during the assault, Berrigan- the single legged Ranger who tutored Will in the fifth book- was also killed while protecting Duncan. That'll probably come up in the story, but the guitar thing won't.

-Sam can sing. When they were teenagers, Danny and Sam would perform around Redmont at inns and such. He'd play his guitar, she'd sing different tunes. A local favorite was 'Greybeard Halt' and on several occasions, people have sworn they'd seen the grim Ranger tapping and humming along.

-When Danny first graduated, he stayed in Redmont with Gil. Gil had been moved to Redmont when Halt officially retired. Together, they made up the task force. But when Jenny popped out a couple of kids, Gil left the task force. The task force 'head quarters', you could say, were moved to Whitby, and the fief became Danny's. Crowley still runs the force, even though he's not the official Commandant. That'd be Mitch, the guy mentioned earlier.

**Okay, I lied. That last fact probably will be used. Who knows?**

**Anyway, those are just some things I thought were interesting about the different Treaty kids.**

**-Sharkbait**


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